


Halloween with the Rutherfords

by mother_of_halla



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Costumes, Dad!Cullen, Fluff, Halloween, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-06
Updated: 2015-11-06
Packaged: 2018-04-30 05:51:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,679
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5152679
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mother_of_halla/pseuds/mother_of_halla
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Rutherford household has decided that the theme of this Halloween is Varric Tethras' "The Enchanter of Os(twick)".</p>
            </blockquote>





	Halloween with the Rutherfords

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by a tumblr post by flowerbabytrevelyan(xStephyG).

The laughter and playful screaming echoed up the stairs along with the sounds of small bare feet smacking on the hardwood floors. The kids seemed to be enjoying themselves in their new costumes. She could hear Bran 'roar' every so often, followed by Lilly squealing and more feet pattering through the house. Ros and Cullen had just finished wrangling the two whirlwinds into their costumes, with varying success. Ros had managed Lilly's makeup, but not Bran's and Cullen had managed the little lion but had not been able to get his daughter to sit still long enough to get her stockings on her. Finally, they had given up and released the two to play downstairs. 

The parents were still in their bedroom, where the chaos of the evening was clearly on display, a tiny pair of white stockings lay on the floor where Lilly had dropped them in her hurry to leave, Cullen's hat lay in the center of a disheveled bed, and the vanity was stacked high with costume make-up. And Cullen was sitting in the chair at Ros' vanity, eyes closed and patiently waiting for her to finish his costume. She smeared more yellow paint onto her husband's face, gently smoothing paint over his features with stained fingers. Tracing his brow, down the bridge of his nose, over each of his cheekbones and along his jaw. As she worked she listened to the children's laughter from downstairs and she chuckled to herself. 

At the sound, he peeked through one eye and smiled lopsidedly, his scar still standing out against the face paint. “What's funny?” He asked. 

She smiled back at him, placing a hand on his shoulder and leaning down for a too brief kiss, doing her best to avoid smudging.“It sounds like the kids are having fun.” She replied, chuckling again as another fearsome roar echoed up to them. 

He lifted his hands to her waist and held her, closing his eyes again, but smiling around his words. “Good. For a moment I was afraid you were laughing at me. Maker knows I don't need a costume to make myself look ridiculous.” 

His thumbs traced circles over her hips as she worked, evening the color, and double checking for missed spaces and she had to place her finger over his lips several times to keep him from talking anymore so she could finish. Each time, he would smile and kiss her finger before she continued. After another five minutes, he was finished. He stood up, towering over Ros, with his hair slicked back and his face painted a matching color, and Ros had to suppress a giggle. He truly looked ridiculous, a grown man in full costume, orange nose and all- without Dorothy and the Lion he looked like an overgrown child. Quickly, to hide her laughter, she turned to retrieve his hat from the bed. When she turned back around and saw him smiling at himself in the mirror, her heart melted. 

“Lilly is going to love this,” he said, turning to her and leaning down so that she could put his hat on. “I'll go and get the kids ready, and you can put on your costume.” 

This time, it was his turn to lean down for a quick peck before he left, snatching up Lilly's white stockings on the way. For her part, Ros stepped into the bathroom to wash the paint off of her fingers and then back into the bedroom, where in the back of the closet, an old Orlesian style gown hung, one she had worn on a very different occasion years ago. It was just as much a costume then as it was now. Slipping the garment from it's protective bag, she stripped to her underwear and bra and hoped that the fluffy pink gown still fit. By some miracle, it did. The real costume, the one Cullen was expecting, lay in its bag underneath the bed where she had hidden it, hoping that it would not be needed. It was tighter than she remembered, and her breasts were precariously contained, but it fit- and not too uncomfortably. She pulled out the matching mask that she planned to wear again and tied it carefully around her head, dreading the pain of accidentally tying any of her dark curls into the knot. Ros crossed to the mirror and admired her image for a moment, remembering the days when she was fighting demons rather than her own unruly children. As if on cue, Ros heard the stairs creaking under small feet, and a moment later, Lilly entered the room, pouting and staring at her now stockinged feet which were also clad in ruby red slippers. 

“Mama, can we go now? Daddy made me wear these but-” Lilly gasped as she looked up and caught sight of her mother, looking for all the world as if she belonged upon a throne. Her eyes were as wide as saucers. “Mama! You're even prettier than Enchantress Glinda!” 

Ros smiled, reached out, and Lilly shot into her arms for a hug. “Lets go show your daddy, sweetling. His beautiful girls, all dressed up. Of course, I could never be as pretty as you.” Ros emphasized her last statement with a tight squeeze, and Lilly squirmed away, giggling. 

“Ros?Are you alright? Do you need me to come up?”Cullen called from below. 

“Daddy! Daddy! Wait until you see her! Mama is the beutifullest lady in the whole world!” Lilly shouted, taking off out the door and down the stairs before Ros could react. Ros chuckled as Lilly gushed about the dress to her father. She could picture the look on his face, a small smile, bright eyes trained on their daughter's face as he tuned out most of her babble. 

Before she joined her family downstairs, Ros grabbed a black make-up pen from the pile on the vanity and slipped on her own pair of slippers. As she descended the stairs, carefully holding her dress, she heard Lilly announce again how beautiful 'Enchantress Glinda' was, and this time she heard Cullen's reply. 

“Of course she is, silly girl, she's your mother after all.” 

Bran was the first to see her when she turned the corner into the den, and his happy squeals as he charged into her legs alerted the other two, wit their backs to the door. Cullen intercepted the toddler, reaching down and snatching him up like lightning. Holding the squirming three year old horizontally in his arms and blowing raspberries into is clothed tummy and spinning. Bran's delighted laughter at his father's antics nearly drowned out is sister, as she tugged on Cullen's shirt, bouncing on her toes with poorly contained excitement. 

“Look, daddy! Look!” 

Cullen was still laughing, and wrestling to keep a grip on the squirming lion cub in his hands when he finally looked at is wife. He met her eyes first, grinning, before he looked down at her costume, and his smile froze. He let the still giggling Bran down slowly, and took Lilly's hand off of his shirt and into his own, squeezing it as she went on and on about the 'Enchantress'. His gaze brushed over her from head to toe as he took two steps forward, his hand reaching out to caress her cheek, just under her mask. 

“You are...” He swallowed roughly, but smiled, leaning in for a kiss, careful not to smear his face paint. He bowed his head and leaned into her, wrapping his arms around her waist and holding her tight to his chest. “I love you, Roslyn Yvette Rutherford.” He whispered into her hair, barely more than a breath. She whispered it back to him, hiding her face in his neck. 

Lilly began to tug on Ros' skirts, and the two separated. “Mama, can we go now? I want candy!” 

Ros smiled down at their daughter. “We'll go soon, Miss Dorothy. We're waiting on some special guests first. 

Cullen glanced at the clock. “They should be here by now, I wonder wh-” 

The front door was thrown open, interrupting him, and manic laughter echoed through the den. Ros thought she heard him mutter something suspiciously like 'wonderful', but she was too enraptured by the childrens faces as a green woman stalked into the house. Lilly jumped, backing up into Ros and clinging to her leg, wide eyed. Bran squealed and started laughing from where he sat behind Cullen's legs 

“Oi, my pretty kiddies. C'mere so I can gobble you up!” The woman called to them, and Lilly relaxed immediately, squealing and grinning like it was Christmas, and Bran pulled himself up by the couch onto his feet, trying to get closer to his 'aunt'. 

“Aunt Sera!” Lilly shouted, rushing to hug the 'Wicked Apostate of the East', but Sera gasped, pretending to have caught sight of Lilly's slippers. 

“Oi! Where'd you get those, sticky-fingers? D'ya steal 'em?” Lilly stopped dead, halfway to Sera, glancing between her shoes and the woman in front of her. Then her gaze lingered on the costumed elf for a moment. 

The pair took off running at the same time, Lilly weaving around furniture and Sera giggling like a madwoman making exaggerated swipes to catch Lilly and pretending like she was too slow. Ros quickly snatched up Bran, a moment before he was almost trampled by his sister and Cullen called for the pair to stop running or to take the chase outside. Of course, Lilly made a beeline for the door, which was still wide open from Sera's entrance, and Sera ran after her. In their wake, Cullen grabbed the pillow cases for the kids' candy, his keys from the side table, and their coats from the closet. 

“Where's Dagna? Is she not coming?” He asked, letting Ros pass through the door before him before he closed and locked the door. 

Ros did her best to shrug with the heavy and squirmy lion in her arms.The carved pumpkins on the porch were still bright and grinning from the night before, grinning at the sight before them. It wasn't dark yet, and their cul de sac was crawling with children and parents starting their nights. And she spotted the checked blue and white dress of Dorothy, and the green 'Apostate' right behind. 

“Hello there!” a familiar voice called. 

Confused, Ros looked over the street again, making sure to look for shorter individuals this time. “Was that Dagna?” She asked her husband. 

Before he could respond, Dagna herself floated down with a soft whoosh and a wave of heat, like standing too close to a fire. Her costume, as one of the apostate's minions, was a despair demon- her face painted snow white and wearing a dark hooded cloak, as well as what looked like...a jetpack? Before Ros could ask, Danga launched into an excited, drawn out explanation of how she had made it, how it worked, and an entirely too detailed description of the injuries she had sustained while inventing the machine. Meanwhile, Lilly and Sera re-joined them, Bran was set on his own two feet, and they set off to beg for candy. Finally and mercifully, Sera bent over and silenced Dagna with a sloppy kiss. 

“Stuff it, Widdle. They don't care, yeah? They're bein' nice.” 

Presumably, Dagna blushed under her make-up as she rubbed the back of her neck and turned to Ros and Cullen to apologize. They both had to hide their laughter- Dagna's lips had turned a light green.  


`` `` `` `` `` `` `` `` `` ``  


By the end of their trek, the group had four pillowcases and Sera's pointy hat full of candy. Lilly insisted on carrying her own, which made the whole walk very slow going. She would heave the bag off the groung a few inches, shuffle forward a few steps, and drop it back to the ground. It wasn't until Cullen suggested she carry it over her shoulder that they made any progress toward home, because as soon as Lilly managed to put it on her shoulder, he gripped the bag and held its weight. Lilly was amazed at her own strength and never questioned it. 

Bran had been asleep for nearly an hour when they set out for home, his weight passed between the adults just like the bags of candy, if not more carefully. They had been stopped for pictures so often, that the novelty had worn off for Lilly and she began to refuse, and the 'Enchantress' and 'Apostate' were asked to perform tricks no fewer than a hundred times. Each time, Ros would blow bubbles at the children out of the palm of her hand, and when they popped, each one let loose a small flurry of snowflakes. For her part, Sera used one of her flasks, which set of wonderful displays of fire and ice. 

When they finally reached home, they parted ways, Lilly dropping her candy and giving Sera and Dagna each a hug before she went inside, curling up on the couch with a huge yawn, leaving her candy where it fell. Ros took the two pillowcases she was carrying into the house, setting them on the floor by the side table. Cullen said a quick goodbye and then-carrying Bran in one arm and Lilly's abandoned candy in the other-followed her inside, dropping the bag softly next to the other two. As he made his way upstairs, Ros went back out to the porch to say goodbye. Both ladies were all too happy with the amount of candy they had snagged, evidenced by Sera saying goodbye through a mouthful of taffy. 

After they were gone, Ros helped Lilly off of the couch, upstairs, and into her PJ's. The poor girl was barely coherent as her mother gently washed the make-up off of her face with a warm wet rag. When Ros put her to bed, Lilly was fast asleep before her light was off. She met Cullen in the hallway outside of Bran's room, and took his hand in hers, following him into their own room where they helped each other out of their respective costumes. Lazily, Ros pulled on one of his shirts as opposed to actually dressing, and Cullen chuckled as he followed her into the bathroom. She made him sit on the side of the tub, and ran warm water over a wash cloth. He leaned into her hand as she wiped away the paint, from his forehead to his jaw, careful not to be too rough as she scrubbed away the day. She soothed the crease between his brows with her thumb, trailing her fingers down the bridge of his nose to his lips, steadying his chin with the other hand, and wiping the last color away from his lips- before leaning in to kiss him. 

Ros washed her own face of make-up quickly, as Cullen stood up behind her, putting his hands on her hips, his chin on her shoulder, and watching her in the mirror with a small smile that oozed bad intentions. 

“Are you thinking what I'm thinking?” he smirked. 

Ros returned the mischievous smile. “Do you think we can be quiet?” 

“I think so. They're not likely to walk in and catch us at it, anyway. They're both dead asleep.” 

A moment passed as they stared at each other in the mirror, and then Cullen made for the door, her only warning a quick squeeze as he bolted. Luckily she was right behind him, and managed to jump onto his back before he even made it to the bedroom door. He laughed a little too loudly and Ros laid her hand over his mouth as she wrapped her legs around his waist, shushing him. He carried her down the stairs with no difficulty, and they set up shop on the living room floor. They dumped the bags into two equal piles and spent hours haggling and bargaining and sometimes wrestling over candy. They were caught red handed the next morning when Lilly came downstairs and found the two asleep on the floor in a pile of candy.

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first published fic, so go easy on me.


End file.
